Riverside County approved a $1.8 million settlement on Sept. 1 of a federal wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit, the Redlands Daily Facts reported. The suit, filed in July 2022, alleged deputies failed to protect a 48-year-old inmate who was beaten to death with a crutch by his cellmate at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio on July 21, 2021. It named Sheriff Chad Bianco, Sgt. Ashley Rodriguez and Deputies Jonathan McKeithen, Cody Brand, James Parks and Laura Valdez. According to the lawsuit, McKeithen, Brand and Parks showed deliberate indifference by failing to conduct adequate cell checks, and deputies did not check the cell for over two hours. The county did not admit wrongdoing, saying it settled for economic reasons.
Why it matters
The settlement resolves allegations that deputies failed to check on an inmate who was killed in custody, though the county admitted no wrongdoing and a settlement is not a finding of fault.
Settlement: A settlement ends a claim without proving it, and usually involves no admission of wrongdoing. The money usually comes from the government or its insurer. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.